Tom DeCair

DeCair, Tom 6/6/1945 - 6/12/2022 St. Pete Beach, Florida Tom DeCair, former Kalamazoo Gazette sports writer and White House aide, died at home on June 12, 2022 after a brief illness. DeCair was the son of Theodore F. and Constance M. (Palmer) DeCair. He attended University High School (class of 1963) where he was elected to several regional and state student council positions. During a colorful academic and social stint at Kalamazoo College, he was a sports writer at the Gazette until he was drafted in 1967, where he served as a U.S. Army post newspaper editor at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After his discharge from the Army he returned to Michigan to attend Hope College in Holland where he received his B.A., graduating in January 1972. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and received a plethora of other academic honors and graduate fellowship offers. He declined those offers to accept a position in the Nixon White House Press Office, writing press releases and wrangling the press corps, culminating in being named Assistant Press Secretary to President Ford. He left the White House to help Governor William G. Milliken to host the 1977 National Governor's Conference at the then-new Renaissance Center in Detroit. He returned to Kalamazoo in 1977 for a brief tenure as President of Gilmore Advertising. Later, at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tom was the first non-lawyer accorded the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Service to the Law. Tom spent his retirement as a part-time helper for over 14 years at the St. Pete Beach Public Library. He is survived by daughter Sara DeCair (Chris Sobota) and granddaughter Taylor DeCair Sobota, both of Washington, D.C. who served as his end-of-life caregivers. No services will be held, but contributions may be made in his name to the new St. Pete Beach Public Library Innovation Fund: https://www.spblibrary.com/678/Innovation-Fund